“I don’t understand,” I confessed. “Dr. Whyborne doesn’t really confide in me.”
Heliabel took pity on me. “The dweller in the deeps is a…well, calling it a creature seems inadequate, somehow. An immortal being whose guidance has directed the ketoi throughout their history. Or I should say ‘their’ guidance.”
The thought of some immortal creature living beneath the ocean was hardly comforting. “There’s more than one?”
“The ketoi span the globe,” Heliabel said matter-of-factly. “There are…not many gods, certainly, but more than one.”
I stared out at the ocean, at the waves heaving beneath the moon. Somehow I’d thought of the ketoi as some quirk of Widdershins. Just one more strange thing about a strange town. But if they lived beneath the seas across the planet, then nothing was as I’d believed. It wasn’t just Widdershins that was strange, but the whole world.
“Could this…god…have sung to Irene?” I shifted uneasily. “Lured her away, somehow?”
“No,” Heliabel said. “Normally hybrids can’t hear the dweller in the deeps if they haven’t taken to the water.” She winced, as though recalling something unpleasant. “Except under unusual circumstances. I don’t think it was the god. But I also don’t think that the fact she had a dream about something singing to her was unrelated.”
“Perhaps it had something to do with the theater, then.” The wind had grown stronger, and I tugged my coat tighter about me. “She fainted at the siren’s song, as did Mr. Burton. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“Agreed.” Heliabel put a hand to one of her necklaces, absently stroking a pearl the size of my thumbnail. “This doesn’t bode well.”
“No. It doesn’t.” Persephone folded her hands behind her back and stared in the direction of Widdershins, as if she could somehow see across the miles to the theater. “I can’t ask our kin on the land to risk going there. If there is some sorcery aimed at them, whatever happened to Irene and Burton could happen to them as well.”
“That’s true,” I agreed, heart sinking.
“So I’ll have to go alone,” Persephone concluded.
“What?” I reached for her, but let my hand drop. “You can’t! It’s too dangerous.”
“What choice do I have?” Her hair thrashed around her shoulders. “If this theater is indeed the source of the attack, we must find out. We must know what magics they have, and how they can be fought. And, if Irene and Burton yet live, I cannot leave our kin in the hands of those who mean us no good.”
The moonlight glittered from her jewelry. She stood tall, and proud, and indomitable. She was a queen, a goddess, and I’d been mad to ever think she might kiss the likes of me.
I swallowed past the dryness in my throat. “Then I-I’ll go with you.”
Persephone frowned. “There’s no need.”
“I don’t want you to go alone.” I clenched the folds of my coat between my fingers. “If Dr. Whyborne was here, or even Dr. Putnam-Barnett…but they aren’t. So I’ll go.”
Concern softened the contours of her face. “It’s not safe. You could be hurt.”
“At least I’m not susceptible to whatever sorcery is aimed at the ketoi,” I pointed out. “And I can pick locks. If we wait until the troupe leaves for the night, I can open the stage door quietly, without alerting any guards who might remain behind.”
“Brave girl,” Heliabel said approvingly.
“I’m not.” I didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. “I’m scared to death. But it gives us the best chance, doesn’t it?”
Persephone crossed the sand to me and rested her hands on my shoulders. My throat constricted at her nearness, and I looked up at her. There was an odd sort of sadness in her eyes. “Thank you, Maggie,” she said, her words almost lost beneath the sigh of the waves. “This isn’t your fight, but I’m glad to have your help. I knew, when I saw you…well, it doesn’t matter.” Her hands fell away. “I’ll meet you outside the theater tomorrow night.”
“I’ll see you then,” I said, even as she turned and made for the incoming surf. Heliabel gave me a smile, before following her daughter into the waves. In a few moments, I was alone on the beach, with only their footprints in the sand to show they’d ever been there at all.
Chapter 5
I fought not to betray my nervousness during dinner with Oliver. Most of my nerves came from my plan to sneak into the Undertow with Persephone. What if we were caught? Or couldn’t find Irene once we got inside? What if Irene was already dead?
As for the rest of my nerves…I’d assumed Oliver meant to take me somewhere like Marsh’s restaurant. Instead, he’d announced he had reservations at Le Calmar. Widdershins’s finest establishment.
It was the sort of place one might go to mark a special occasion. When I’d protested at the expense, he’d only smiled and said I was worth it. So I hastily changed into my best dress and told myself the special occasion was simply our renewed friendship.